All The Bells And Whistles
by Myrddin Emrys The Third
Summary: Itachi has decided to claim Sakura, using an old bonding method that hasn't been in practice for years. How will Sakura take this, and what will happen when the bonding is contested by another? Non-massacre, Rated M for multiple lemons. On hiatus, might discontinue and delete.
1. The Claim

**So, I was going through pictures I've got of Itachi and Sakura, trying to see if any of them could give me some ideas for stories. I got seventeen, and this was one of them. This is a non-massacre world, and I will be dealing with other couple's issues as well in this. But there will be Itachi and Sakura every chapter.**

**Anyway, I don't own Naruto, and please enjoy!**

**Lemon ahead…**

_**All The Bells And Whistles**_

**Chapter One – The Claim**

Sakura sat on the step, feeling quite nostalgic. This was her family home, up until five days ago, when her parents were given the order to leave. There was no real reason for it, other than the place had to be sold because the owner was up to his eyeballs in debt. The Haruno's were therefore forced to find somewhere else to live, and lucky for them, they had great friends in the Yamanaka's, who'd offered them the flat above their shop. It would mean seeing a lot more of Ino, and even though Sakura loved her best friend, there was such a thing as too much Ino-pig.

The Yamanaka's also owned the building next to the flower shop, and that was where they lived, so at least the Haruno's weren't going to be putting anyone out of home. Sighing, Sakura stood and hefted the heavy bag over her shoulder, it was the last thing she had to carry over to the 'new place'. The little flat had two bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen and a really small area that could be used as a sitting room, but was probably only going to store what they could take with them. Not all their possessions would fit in the flat, so they were storing the rest at a family storage unit on the other side of the village.

She was due to meet her team at their training grounds soon, but Sakura was fine with being a little late, because Kakashi was going to be a lot late. Naruto and Sasuke probably wouldn't turn up on time either. Really, Kakashi was a bad influence on them, and it was only luck that had them not extending the habit to missions and summons from the Hokage, as it was with their lackadaisical sensei.

Arriving at the flower shop, Sakura found Ino waiting there. "Hey forehead!" she greeted. "Is this the last of your stuff?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, hefting the bag a little more comfortably on her shoulder. "We're moved out, now."

"Well, come on then!" Ino hurried. "Come upstairs to your new, temporary digs!"

The Haruno's were only staying until they could find another place, not that they weren't grateful or anything, but with Haruno Mebuki expecting a surprise baby, they were really going to need the extra space. Luckily the baby's appearance was far enough away, with her mother only being two months pregnant at the moment. Sakura was looking forward to being a big sister, as she'd been an only child until now.

After putting the last bag away, Sakura and Ino both decided to go for a walk, one that would end when they reached the training grounds. Ino was going on about her latest date with Kiba, and how he was a surprisingly good conversationalist. But she was very firm on how he would do in what Ino liked to call the 'final test', which was how good he was in bed. Sakura was amazed at how Ino decided whether a guy was worth keeping by his sexual performance. Personally, she decided long before it got to that point, but whatever.

In any case, Ino had 'thrown away' several really good catches because they didn't live up to her expectations in the sack. Sasuke, Kankurou, even Lee… Sakura, however, had rather enjoyed Sasuke's performance in bed when they'd dated a year ago. The only reason they hadn't worked out was because they both ended up realising that they were a rather self-destructive couple, with all their arguing and such, and Sasuke was now dating Hinata, much to Neji and Hiashi's consternation, but Hanabi's delight.

Sakura was the only member of team seven currently single, as Naruto was dating Temari long distance, and Kakashi was in a rather morbid, but oddly cute relationship with Anko.

They were nearly at the training grounds now, and the topic of their conversation had turned to work. "We've got a mission in the morning," Ino was saying. "We're going to Suna to help with something, I don't know what it is, but apparently they were asking for Leaf assistance. Shika thinks it's just because they want a representative, and that we won't really be doing anything properly, but we're going anyway because of the treaty."

They were there now, and to Sakura's surprise, Kiba, Hinata and Shikamaru were there as well. "Hey there babe!" Kiba greeted Ino as soon as he saw her.

Ino rolled her eyes at Kiba but returned, "Hey Kiba. What are all you guys doing here? I thought this was Team Seven's meet place."

"Shikamaru and Hinata were with Sasuke," Kiba said, "and I ran into Naruto. Just like you got here with Sakura."

Ino accepted that, and moved into her boyfriend's embrace. Sakura happened to be watching Shikamaru at that moment, and the look on his face… Oh dear. Shika averted his gaze then and caught Sakura's and he seemed to realise he'd been caught, and shushed her with a look.

Now that Sakura was here, though, the extra people started leaving. Hinata said goodbye to Sasuke, who gave her a kiss on the cheek, and she ended up blushing furiously. Kiba and Ino strolled off, arm in arm, then Shikamaru sauntered off, probably to watch clouds. Now all they needed was their sensei to turn up, and they could get started on their training. Their sensei, however, was distracted by something that was going on across the other side of the village.

OoOoO

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"I can assure you, I am quite serious."

"I thought that your clan had stopped this practice years ago?"

"Only to the outside observer. It is still being practiced."

"Does your father know about your choice?"

"Yes."

"Does he approve?"

"Immensely. He'd hoped that Sasuke would bring her in, but now I shall."

"She will hate you for this."

"I am aware."

"Quite possibly forever."

"I know."

"She's got a really nasty temper, just like the Hokage."

"Hn."

"Itachi, are you _really _sure about this?"

"Quite sure, Kakashi."

Sighing, Hatake Kakashi closed his eyes, taking all this in. Here was Uchiha Itachi, telling him that he intended to lay claim to Sakura using an old bonding technique that everyone had thought was no longer in use. And the thing was, it was perfectly legal, and no one would be able to do a thing about it. Once Sakura put on the necklace with the bell, there would be no turning back for her at all. Oh, man, she was going to be angry!

"Fine," he said a moment later. "Just do me a favour and don't tell her you told me. She'll kill me for not warning her otherwise."

"I assure you your part in this will remain anonymous," Itachi promised.

Kakashi nodded then said, "I have to go. I'm supposed to meet my team for training."

"And you're late already?" Itachi asked, and Kakashi nodded.

So the Uchiha prodigy let his former Anbu team mate go, holding the precious item in his hand that would assure that Haruno Sakura became his.

OoOoO

Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were getting a little tired of waiting for Kakashi, and they were all about to call it quits when there was a very distinct, "Yo."

"You're late, Kaka-sensei!" Naruto complained. "When are you ever going to man up and be on time for once?"

"Man up?" Kakashi asked. "That's a rather odd way of putting it."

"No it isn't!" Naruto countered loudly. "Being late means you're a lazy old pervert who needs Anko to start 'withholding' again so he can actually turn up when he's supposed to!"

"It is getting rather bad, sensei," Sakura noted. "You were so late today that we were even considering going home. You've never taken more than five hours to show up before."

"Well, I got caught up," Kakashi said. "You know what? Instead of training, why don't the three of you head home? I'm sure you can work out your frustrations that way."

He disappeared with a poof, and the three of them stood there a moment in silent shock, then Naruto yelled, "WHAT?! We just wasted most of the day waiting for you! KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

But Hatake Kakashi was long gone.

OoOoO

Much, much later, Sasuke arrived home, finding his mother humming happily as she cooked. "Hello, Sasuke!" she greeted cheerfully. "How was your training with your team?"

"We didn't do any," he told her. "Kakashi was unusually late, and then when he did turn up, he just sent us home."

A frown marred Mikoto's face. "That's odd," she commented. "Usually he does _something _with all of you. Maybe he's having some personal issues, after all, he is dating that awful Anko woman."

There was silence a moment, then she asked, "Speaking of dating… how is everything going with darling Hinata?"

"It's good, mother," Sasuke said. "We're at a good place."

"That's good to hear, son," came Uchiha Fugaku's voice, and Sasuke looked up to see his father enter, closely followed by his brother. "I'm glad that you've found a good match. After that fiasco with the Haruno girl…"

"Sakura and I weren't compatible, father," Sasuke reminded him. "We would have ended up killing one another."

"Yes, well, perhaps it was for the best," Fugaku conceded. "It was just such a shame, her family has such a vital connection to almost all the merchants in Fire Country, it was hard to see the opportunity pass us by."

Sasuke snorted silently. Opportunity! That was all his father ever saw any of his sons unions as. And Hinata was no different, since she was a Hyuuga. That was probably why Neji and Hiashi weren't too pleased about him dating her. But Sasuke didn't care about clan politics, he just cared about Hinata. But his father was smiling now.

"Never mind!" he declared. "It's water under the bridge! Still, there is still a chance that young Sakura could join the family, isn't that right, Itachi?"

Sasuke froze, and looked over at his aniki, who remained impassive. "What have you done?" he demanded, but all the members of his family remained silent. "What have you done to Sakura?"

There was no answer, and suddenly Sasuke was on his feet, running over to Sakura's place, desperate to stop what he suspected was happening.

OoOoO

When Sakura had arrived home, she'd found her parents looking at a gift box. Wondering what was going on, she went over to them just as her mother noticed she was there.

"Oh, Sakura!" she greeted. "This came for you. It looks like you have a secret admirer dear!"

Rolling her eyes, Sakura grumbled, "Great, just what I need, a crazy nut-job stalking me! Can I have that please?"

Haruno Mebuki proceeded to roll her own eyes, a Haruno women habit, and handed over the box. Sakura sat down on the nearest chair and undid the ribbon, removing the lid to reveal another ribbon, this one with a clasp attached and two delicate golden bells on it. A necklace then, rather simple, yet with an elegance that she couldn't deny.

Covering for her slight awe, she remarked, "Great, bells. How tacky is that?"

"Oh they don't look that tacky," Mebuki remarked. "What do you think, Kizashi?"

"It's… alright I suppose," Sakura's father commented. "I'm not really an expert on jewellery."

Staring down at the necklace, Sakura felt a need to put it on, so she pulled it out of the box and held it up. The bells were really golden, and they tinkled with music that called to her. _Put me on, put me on! _it seemed to say, and almost trance like, she did. Just as she finished securing the clasp, the door burst open and Sakura looked up to see Sasuke standing there.

"Sasuke!" Kizashi greeted, then frowned. "What are you doing just bursting in here like that?"

"I wanted to stop Sakura from making a huge mistake," he said, "but it looks like I was too late. I'm sorry, Sakura, but you shouldn't have put that necklace on. You belong to my brother now."

The three Haruno's nearly fainted, well, actually, one of them did.

OoOoO

Several streets away someone else was having a revelation. Ino lay in bed, buck naked with Kiba grunting above her. His movements against her were hard enough to make the headboard slam into the wall behind it, but all she felt was a heck of a lot of discomfort. Naturally she was moaning and groaning in the right places, so that Kiba didn't realise something was up, but she knew there was no way she was going to orgasm tonight. Damn.

This meant, of course, that she was breaking up with him. There was no way that she could remain in a relationship with him if he was this bad for her in bed. It was for the best, after all, some other woman out there would enjoy him more than she would. So the search for the one would continue. Until then, though, she was going to have to endure a night of bad sex!

A different grunt issued from Kiba, and Ino realised that it was over. Only just stopping herself from sighing out loud in relief, Ino stroked his back as he collapsed on top of her.

"That was fantastic!" Kiba breathed in her ear.

"Uh, yeah, fantastic," Ino went along with it, then asked hopefully. "I'm rather tired. Do you think we could just sleep?"

"Just one more round?" Kiba asked and Ino reluctantly agreed.

After the 'one last round', Ino sighed as Kiba cuddled her close, nuzzling her hair and whispering that she was absolutely magnificent. Ino lay there, waiting for Kiba to fall asleep, and when he did, she allowed herself to sigh in frustration. She'd been so sure that Kiba would live up to her expectations, and was extremely disappointed that he hadn't. Right now, she couldn't wait for morning, then she could break things off with him and move on. Naturally she felt bad about the fact that she was going to break his heart, but she refused to sacrifice her future happiness to spare hurt feelings.

Letting some more time pass, eventually Ino slipped out of the bed and out of Kiba's grasp and gathered her clothes to her. After one last look at him, and she left the house, walking down the street towards home. But along the way she ran into someone she hadn't expected.

"Ino," Shikamaru greeted her. "What are you doing out this late?"

Something in his tone made it clear to her that he knew exactly why she was out here, and Ino glared at him. "It's none of your business!" she snapped at him. "Go away! I don't have time to waste on you!"

Ino turned to storm off, but Shikamaru grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. "You're going to hurt Kiba's feelings," he accused. "He's a friend, and I don't want him to get hurt."

"Neither do I!" Ino told him. "But I won't play happy couples if it's not working out!"

"How do you even know it's not working?" Shikamaru demanded. "Bad sex doesn't mean no love, Ino."

"It does for me!" Ino told him. "Let me go!"

Shikamaru released her and she ran, leaving the shadow wielder behind her. "Oh Ino," he sighed. "If only you'd open your eyes."

Then he turned and left too.

**Ok, so the Haruno's have connections with business men and merchants, but that's because of their family, especially the ones that don't live in Konoha. Just telling you this in case you were wondering why they were getting kicked out, but Fugaku wanted the alliance with them. They have quite a bit of money, but I'm operating under the surmise that real estate in Konoha is quite difficult to come by, as people are always wanting to live there to establish themselves, making renting easier than buying. So that's why, in case you were wondering.**

**In any case, we've established that there's ItaSaku, SasuHina, NaruTema, KibaIno, KakaAnko and upcoming ShikaIno. There will be more in future chapters. In the meantime, please review!**


	2. Repercussions

**New chapter! I like this one, just because.**

**I don't own the Naruto gang...**

**Chapter Two – Repercussions**

After quickly checking that her mother was alright, Sakura demanded of Sasuke, "What do you mean, I belong to Itachi?"

"The necklace you put on," Sasuke told her. "There's a jutsu on it, one that hasn't been in practice for a long time, except in my family. It binds two people together, like a marriage contract. When you put it on you completed the jutsu, so now you are legally Itachi's."

"Legally?" Kizashi Haruno demanded. "Surely something like this _isn't_ legal?"

"It is legal," Sasuke told them. "Probably because they never got around to banning it before the whole concept was discontinued."

Sakura was trying to absorb all this, not really understanding why this had to happen at all. What was Itachi hoping to accomplish? Did he really want her that way? Why didn't he just ask her then, like normal people? An anger rose in her, anger based off the fact that her freedom had just been stolen from her. How dared that arrogant bastard do this to her?!

"Verbally attacking him won't help," Sasuke said, proving the bond that he had with his team mates, that he knew what she was thinking.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Sakura demanded. "This is absolutely barbaric! How can anyone even _think_ that this is acceptable!?"

Suddenly an idea occurred to her and she headed straight for the door. "Where are you going?" her father asked.

"I'm going to see Tsunade shishou," Sakura said. "Maybe she can help me find a way out of this."

"I'll come with you,"' Sasuke said, and she nodded her acceptance.

OoOoO

Kakashi was standing at the memorial when Iruka came up to him. "Hey, Kakashi," he greeted. "I haven't seen you in awhile. Not taking on any more gennin students?"

"You know I haven't," Kakashi said. "I transferred back into Anbu. Naruto and Sasuke are taking their exams soon."

"Not Sakura though?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "She's focused on becoming the best medic-nin in Konoha," he said. "The black ops are definitely _not_ next on her list."

"But are they on there?" Iruka asked, and Kakashi nodded.

The two of them simply stood there awhile before Kakashi said, "I'd better get going. Anko said something about dropping by tonight."

Iruka smiled, though it didn't really reach his eyes. "You'd better go then," he said. "Wouldn't want her to skewer you for being late again."

Kakashi chuckled wryly then teleported away, leaving the other man just standing there. Iruka sighed and wondered if there was any chance of him ever being happy when the one he loved was with someone else...

OoOoO

Tsunade was sleeping off some saké in her office, when Sakura and Sasuke came knocking. A sleepy grunt met their ears and Sakura rolled her eyes as she pushed the door open and the two of them went in.

"Of course, she _would_ be asleep," Sasuke observed.

"She probably found the saké that Shizune thought she'd hidden so carefully," Sakura said. "I told her there was no way she could keep it from shishou forever!"

Sasuke smirked and stood back, watching as Sakura strode forward and yelled, "'Shishou! Every bar in the village burned down! We're out of saké!"

Tsunade jerked awake. "What?" she asked, then her eyes widened. "Sakura! Co-ordinate with the third Anbu squad! Brief them and send them out to the nearest village! I know we can have our stores stocked by... Huh? Sakura, just why are you laughing? This is _serious_!"

It seemed the pinkette just couldn't help herself as she laughed and laughed and laughed. Finally, the Hokage seemed to catch on to the fact that Sakura had lied, and she sat down, scowling and looking sheepish at the same time. All Sasuke did during this was raise an eyebrow at the way their Hokage was conducting herself.

"That's _not _funny, Sakura!" Tsunade snapped. "What if there really _was_ a shortage?"

"Then that would be a disaster!" Sakura said with a slight giggle, but she was composing herself.

The Hokage glared, but before she could say anything, Sasuke interrupted, "Forgive me, Lady Hokage, but we are actually here on _serious_ business."

"Running out of saké _is_ serious," Tsunade muttered, then asked a little louder, "Why are you both here then?"

The reminder of why they were there instantly sobered Sakura up and she frowned. "There's a problem with my father," Sasuke said. "He and my brother have initiated a _yakúsoku_ with Sakura, against her knowledge and consent."

It was then that Tsunade noticed the bells around Sakura's neck and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Tell me everything," she commanded.

OoOoO

As the sun rose over Konoha, Kiba roused in his bed, reaching over for a warm body that was no longer there. He frowned, opening his eyes and finding that he was indeed alone. Sitting up, he looked around and found that there was no sign of Ino ever being in here at all. A feeling of dread reached him, but he pushed it away. There was no way Ino would do this, right? She loved him, didn't she?

The door burst open then and his sister Hana entered. "Rise and shine, kiddo!" she commanded. "Oh great, you're already awake. You've got that mission today for mum and dad, remember? There's that litter of pups at that old couples place three miles from here you have to go pick up."

Hana sniffed suddenly and her eyes narrowed. "Kiba, what have you been told about bringing girls over here?" she asked. "It's Ino, isn't it? Well, where are you hiding her, then?"

"She's not here," Kiba said dejectedly.

"Oh," Hana said, her eyes widening in understanding. "Well, I did say she was that kind of..."

"Shut up!" Kiba yelled. "Ino's _not _like that! She's probably just confused!"

"Er... sure, she's confused," Hana agreed. "But either way, get your ass ready, you've got puppies to collect."

She closed the door, leaving Kiba to wonder why the hell Ino had left like that.

OoOoO

On the other side of the village, Hinata was already up, watching as her father and her cousin sparred in their morning training. It was always fascinating for her to watch them, they were both such amazing shinobi, and with their clan's abilities, that only heightened it in her opinion. Each of the shinobi clans had their own special techniques, whether it was a bloodline ability or simply secret jutsu known only to their clan...

The thought of other clans had her immediately thinking of Sasuke, and she blushed. "Good morning Hinata," Hanabi spoke, startling her older sister, though she didn't show it.

"Hanabi-chan," Hinata greeted.

"Has father told you about what he and the council decided yesterday?" Hanabi asked.

Hinata shook her head. "What happened?" asked.

"I'll let father tell you," Hanabi said, "but you might not like it."

The two sisters sat there, watching the training until the two men finished, the Neji excused himself to go clean up. Hiashi then made his way over to his daughters. "Hanabi, if you could give your sister and I a moment."

"Of course father," Hanabi agreed, and she stood and left them alone.

"Walk with me, Hinata," Hiashi commanded, and Hinata obeyed.

The two of them walked without saying anything for awhile, until they ended up in a garden that Hinata and Hanabi's mother attended to before she died a few years ago. Hiashi led her over to a bench and indicated for her to sit, which she did. Her father simply stood there awhile, and Hinata dared to look up, only to see that he was looking at her thoughtfully. She averted her eyes quickly and stared nervously at the ground.

"You have become quite close to that Uchiha boy," Hiashi stated. "It is a concern to myself and the elders on our family council, but we have made a decision. If you wish to continue to see that boy, you will be overlooked as clan heir and Hanabi will get the title. If you agree to stop seeing him, though, you will retain your right as my heir and a marriage to a suitable husband will be arranged. But it will mean that you will have to cut all ties to the boy."

"And who would you have me marry, father?" Hinata asked.

"You would require a husband who is strong, whose Byakugan is the strongest in our family," Hiashi said, and Hinata had a feeling she knew who he meant. "You would marry Neji. Think on it, daughter, before you decide."

Hiashi left then, leaving a confused daughter behind.

OoOoO

The whole night and morning had been spent looking up ways to get out of this bonding, but so far, Sakura, Tsunade and Shizune (who'd been brought in on it when she'd come in for the day) hadn't found anything. Sasuke had gone home straight away, though he'd promised to stop off to tell Sakura's parents what was going on, so that he could try to understand why Itachi would agree to something like this, but Sakura wasn't hopeful. By Sasuke's own admission, he didn't really understand his brother at all, though he did love him and look up to him. But she knew that loyalty was being tested now.

In any case, there seemed to be nothing that they could find. They'd discovered a scroll on the jutsu rather quickly, though it had no answers on how to reverse it. There was no way that she was going to let the bloody Uchiha's get her like this. No offence to Sasuke, but that whole clan was a bunch of no good, manipulative and duplicitous assholes! Why on earth would she want to marry one of them?

Then she remembered how she'd wanted to marry Sasuke when she was young, and decided to ignore that little fact.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Sakura pushed the scrolls in front of her away and slumped in her chair. "Nothing in that one, either?" Tsunade asked.

"This is so annoying!" Sakura declared. "Surely there would be _something_ recorded on the jutsu's reversal! I mean, what if the bells or whatever they used ended up on the wrong person? I know that's possible, no matter what."

"It is puzzling," Shizune spoke. "I mean, every jutsu has to come with either a fail-safe or a reversal if it is to be passed as legal. So where is it?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Maybe the Uchiha's have the reversal," she suggested.

"Oh great!" Sakura groaned. "Let's just go ask the morons who put me in this predicament how to get out of it. I'm doomed!"

"I could always change the law to make it illegal," Tsunade suggested.

"Well, that _would_ prevent others from falling victim to it," Shizune agreed, "but the jutsu has already been done, it wouldn't help Sakura."

"Damn Fugaku!" Tsunade cursed. "There's a reason people stopped using jutsus like this!"

"Well, maybe we can ask someone from one of the other clans that used to practice it," Shizune suggested. "The Hyuuga clan?"

"It's worth a shot," Tsunade mused. "Alright, I'll send someone over to Hiashi to ask him to come here."

Sakura and Shizune nodded their agreement, and it was at that moment that Sakura noticed the time. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed, jumping up from the chair she was in. "I was supposed to meet my team over an hour ago! Kakashi-sensei is probably _already_ there!"

"Go," Tsunade dismissed. "And tell Sasuke that I'm going to be having a stern _talking to_ with his father soon."

Sakura nodded and practically flew out the door.

OoOoO

"Oh man, where is Sakura-chan?" Naruto whined. "She's late!"

Sasuke nodded. "Even Kakashi is here before her," he noted, looking over to their sensei, and soon equal.

"I'm sure she'll be along soon enough," Kakashi said smoothly, and sure enough, a few moments later Sakura appeared.

"You're late, Sakura!" Naruto whined.

"Sorry, Naruto," Sakura apologised. "I was with shishou and lost track of time."

"Hmph! Well, at least your excuse isn't as lame as Kakashi-sensei's always are," Naruto conceded.

"Hey!" Kakashi protested, but Naruto interrupted.

"You _never _have a good reason," he told him matter of factly.

In any case, now that Sakura was there, they got down to the business of training.

OoOoO

In the Uchiha compound, Itachi was sitting at the kitchen table after a vigorous training session with his cousin Shisui, who was currently trying to sweet talk his Aunt Mikoto into letting him have one of her caramel rosemary tarts. "Surely it's not too much to ask?" he asked with a puppy dog look that had Itachi wanting to retch and Mikoto giving in.

"Fine," she sighed. "But just one! The rest are for the formal dinner tonight."

Shisui gave his most ingratiating smile as the sweet was placed before him. "You never cease to amaze me," Itachi said as his cousin savoured his treat.

"Just because dear auntie is immune to _your _charms now," Shisui stated, "doesn't mean no one else can get in!"

Itachi sighed and picked up his dango stick. Shisui was just so carefree sometimes, he envied him his lack of responsibilities. As the eldest son of the Clan leader, Itachi's time was rarely free, though soon he would have more spare time, once his impending wedding to Sakura took place. Then he would be able to leave the Anbu, though there would still be clan obligations. Thinking of Sakura had him thinking of his brother, who was still mad at him for the way he'd gone about acquiring Sakura...

"_How could you do this, Itachi!?" Sasuke demanded. "I thought that you would understand better than anyone about free will?"_

_Itachi's face hardened. "Do not talk to me about freedom, Sasuke," he spoke coldly. "You have no idea what is going on here, what is at stake."_

"_Then tell me instead of sneaking around and forcing others!" Sasuke said. "You should have told me you wanted Sakura, I would have helped you, but not like this!"_

"_There was no other way," Itachi declared._

"_You don't know that for sure," the younger of the two said. "If you'd courted her properly, then..."_

"_Sasuke," Itachi interrupted. "This conversation is over."_

_Itachi stood then and walked out to the sound of his brother's angry words, "This is _not_ over Itachi, not by a long shot..."_

"You look rather miserable," Shisui commented, bringing Itachi out of his thoughts. "Something got you down?"

"Sasuke is still angry at me."

"Well, what did you expect?" was the question. "You've co-opted his best friend and first love, all against her will. I'd be pissed too."

"But there's more going on than he realises," Itachi said. "I haven't told him, but the yakúsoku was father's idea, not mine, though Sasuke thinks it was."

"Then tell him."

"I... cannot."

"Why on earth not?" Shisui asked, thoroughly confused.

"Just leave it, Shisui," Itachi asked, and his cousin consented.

"Alright I will, for now," he said, then asked, "Hey, you want to go over to see Yuriko with me?"

"Sure," Itachi agreed, and they stood and left.

OoOoO

Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma stood at the gates waiting for Ino. Shikamaru'd had a feeling she was going to be a bit late, though she only was by a couple of moments. Finally, they saw her coming, running to get to them.

"Finally!" Chouji said. "Can we get going now?"

"Let's roll!" Asuma declared, and they were on their way to Suna.

Shikamaru hung back to talk to Ino. "Have you seen Kiba today?" he asked.

"That's got nothing to do with you!" Ino hissed.

"He came by my place looking for you," he said.

Ino looked surprised. "I... He did?"

"I told him you were probably at home," Shikamaru said, then noted the look on her face. "Where were you, Ino?"

"I was visiting Tenten," she said.

Shikamaru sighed. "You've really done it this time, you know?" he said. "Kiba's in love with you, and you've done nothing but lead him on."

"I've done no such thing!" Ino whispered shrilly.

"Oh really?" Shikamaru asked, an eyebrow raised. "You went out on several dates with him, told him you love him, slept with him then left him to wake up alone and wondering what he could possibly have done wrong. Of course not, you sure _didn't _lead him on."

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Ino huffed.

"Che, whatever," Shikamaru said, giving up for the moment. "Women are so troublesome."

**So, was that good? I've decided that not all the couples currently established are going to be what's there at the end. Already you've seen some hints as to what couples are splitting, but there's a lot of shake ups to come. And maybe some of the couples will stay together? We'll see. Anyway review please!**

**Yakúsoku: Bond, or a bonding.**


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